


Take a... Breather

by LeDiz



Series: The 48: Miraculous Ladybug [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien takes a moment to breathe, Developing Friendship, Gen, Marinette doesn't, Missing The Point, Tikki notices
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-09-02 22:47:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8686327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeDiz/pseuds/LeDiz
Summary: The 48 are a collection of unfinished and/or pointless fics saved to my hard drive, now posted to Ao3 for people's interest or in case they want to adopt them.
It's probably not going to come up in the series, because it never does in any series, but kids' lives are absolutely ruled by their parents' plans. And Ladybug gets so irritable when Cat Noir doesn't just magically appear whenever she transforms - how would either of them explain to the other if they had to go out of town for a few days? I mean... seriously.





	

The problem with only seeing Cat Noir when they were working was that there was never really a good time to plan ahead. Not that she really excelled in planning _ahead_ – she was more of a just-in-time sort of girl. Still, on the third day of break, a commenter on Alya’s blog had raised an excellent point.

Did superheroes go on vacation?

She didn’t – her parents’ bakery meant it was extremely rare for her family to go anywhere, since shutting down the shop at the wrong time could do serious damage to long term sales. But that didn’t mean Cat Noir was the same. What if he did go on vacation? What would she do if her partner wasn’t around the next time an akuma attacked?

She was literally in the middle of worrying about this with Tikki when movement flashed outside her window, and she jerked her head around to see none other than Cat Noir bounding across the rooftops. She stared at him for a second, astounded by the coincidence, while Tikki flitted from one side of her head to the other.

“That’s just like Cat Noir,” she commented, zipping into Marinette’s line of sight. “Always showing up just when you need him.”

“It must be an akuma!” she realised. “I hate it when he knows about them before me!”

“That doesn’t have to be it,” Tikki reminded her. “But either way, you did want to talk to him.”

“Right. Tikki, spots on!”

In the time it took her to transform and get out, Cat Noir was already several blocks away. He wasn’t moving very fast, relying on parkour rather than his staff to get around, and he started when he saw her.

“Hey there, Ladybug,” he said, swinging around a chimney to face her. “Out on the town for fun or profit?”

“I could ask the same thing of you,” she said. “What are you doing out here? Is it an akuma? Does someone need help?” Another possibility presented itself and she winced, bringing her fists up in front of herself. “I didn’t forget some kind of event, did I?”

He chuckled, letting his weight pull him further around the chimney until he let go and somersaulted down to stand in front of her properly. “Can’t a cat prowl his city without something being wrong?”

 She stared at him. The answer was not, technically, no. She certainly used her powers to get around the city sometimes, even if it was just because she was running late. But he didn’t seem to be going anywhere in particular, and there were less flashy ways of taking a stroll. She tried to put all of this, plus some slight (if hypocritical) disapproval at the misuse of his kwami, in a single look. He continued smirking like a far more proverbial cat than he really was.

“Perhaps it was part of a scheme,” he suggested, after almost a minute had passed in silence. “Perhaps I was hoping my lady would see me and come to join me for, say, a romantic stroll along the Seine? A luncheon on the Eiffel Tower? We could take in the Louvre without trying to keep intrepid bloggers from Egyptian gods, perhaps? We spend so much time protecting this City of Love, why not take advantage?”

“Thanks, but I’ll pass on the ancient history,” she said, folding her arms. “And you aren’t serious, are you? You’re really just out for a walk?”

He unfurled his hands in a full body and luxurious looking shrug. “I needed a—” He paused, lazily opening his eyes. “—breath of fresh air.”

She couldn’t hear a pun, but the pause had certainly implied one, so she responded as she always did by completely ignoring it. “Not enjoying a relaxing vacation, then?” she asked, and his mask shifted with what she’d come to recognise as a quirked eyebrow.

“Well now, was that a personal question I heard? Not keeping to business today, my lady?”

“I’ve been thinking about it,” she said, and rushed to continue before he could take it out of context. “Vacations, I mean. I’m not going anywhere, but it occurred to me that you might be. Most people I know take the occasional weekend trip out of the country, or a full vacation abroad. And since we don’t know each other, we’d have no warning if either one of us did go away.”

He blinked, then smirked even wider. “Well, there is an easy solution to that problem –”

“No.”

“Ah, worth a shot,” he said with a quick breath, then reclosed his eyes with another, less extravagant shrug. “Rest assured, I do not have plans to leave the city any time soon. And now you’ve mentioned it, I’ll be sure to warn you if I gain any.”

‘Gain’ was an interesting word to use, but she accepted it. “Not the type for last-minute whirlwind trips to Venice?”

“Now, now, do you really think I keep this delicious figure with pasta?” he purred, and then pulled back. “But no. If I go anywhere outside this city, there is a complete itinerary, planned at least weeks in advance. I am yours to do with as you wish until at least—” He paused again, this time in more obvious thought. “—actually, I tell a lie. I will likely be out of the country for a few days in December. But beyond that, I come at your every catcall.”

“So, never, then?” she asked, and then blinked. “Wait, you have plans for December?”

He tilted his head with a smile. “Not all of us live on last moments. I have appointments for _March_.”

While she gaped, he took out his baton and looked at it, then made a slight face before putting it away again and sinking into a bow. “And speaking of appointments, one is looming. I should get back.”

“Hold on,” she said, as he started walking back. “You have an appointment? You really were just out for a _walk_? As Cat Noir?”

“When you look this good, every walk should be a catwalk!” he said, and then winked before hopping into a run. “Feel free to watch longingly as I leave! My best features are behind me!”

She rolled her eyes, but did indeed watch him disappear back the way he’d come before heading home to detransform. She caught Tikki as she dropped out of the air, and settled her on the desk with a cookie.

“Well, _that_ was weird. Who transforms into a superhero just to waste time?” she asked, taking up her patterns again. “No offence to you, but I sure wouldn’t want to spare my free minutes as Ladybug!”

“Everyone had different reasons for the things they do, Marinette,” she reminded her. “You became Ladybug to save your friends, but that doesn’t mean Cat Noir has the same motivations.”

“Are you kidding? He’s more invested in saving people than I am!” she pointed out, flashing back to Chloe and all the times Ladybug had dragged her feet in protecting her. Cat Noir didn’t hesitate when it came to helping people. Ever. “Cat Noir is a hero!”

Tikki opened her mouth to answer, but ended up sighing instead, lifting her cookie. She took a bite and swallowed it before trying again. “He’s also very flexible and strong. He can do lots of things the man behind the mask probably can’t.”

“Leaping across buildings can be pretty fun,” she admitted thoughtfully. “And he does like to show off. Alright, Tikki. I suppose that makes sense.”

She didn’t notice Tikki’s second sigh.

**Author's Note:**

> The 48 are a collection of unfinished and/or pointless fics saved to my hard drive, now posted to Ao3 for people's interest or in case they want to adopt them.
> 
> It's probably not going to come up in the series, because it never does in any series, but kids' lives are absolutely ruled by their parents' plans. And Ladybug gets so irritable when Cat Noir doesn't just magically appear whenever she transforms - how would either of them explain to the other if they had to go out of town for a few days? I mean... seriously.


End file.
